13: Rite of Passage
by Wandering7Doctors
Summary: New face, but to earn the name is a whole other thing. Luckily, danger is never hard to find. The 13th Doctor Adventures: Year 1 (Part 1)
1. Chapter 1

The woman charged through the store without giving anyone a parting glance, she even knocked over a shopkeeper. Her grey hooded overcoat bellowed behind her as she muttered a quick apology. Instinct kicked in as she wove through the stacked rows of clothes and possibly created a quick skid mark in the carper when the woman took an immediate stop.

She was right in front of the men's changing room.

The woman was still… adjusting but knew being of the female persuasion would make venturing forward… awkward. A young man came out and doubled back to keep from crashing into the woman. He didn't look that young but for some reason she at least understood in some bizarre sense that chronologically most people were specks of dust by comparison to her, but she did feel young… well younger in appearance.

"Um, you lost?" the man asked.

"Y-Yes," she really needed to get used to the voice coming out her lips, a deep tone worthy of Yorkshire. "Lost. Where's… my changing room?"

"Oh, um, I think it's over there…" he pointed to the left and the woman noticed the symbol for ladies right above the corridor.

"Right," the woman said more to herself than to the man. "Well, no way around it then… Thanks."

She then turned and barreled through the store at a slower pace. Several customers who noticed her battle charge a moment ago now studied the way she moved about. The hood proved quite effective at hiding her embarrassment. She hesitated for a moment, but recovered quickly and made her way into an unused booth. Inside was a seat on the left, a hook for clothes on the right, and a full-length mirror up ahead. She gave the last item her full focus and began to understand… differences. The obvious ones didn't concern her, she'd studied biology and knew what to look for to confirm she was indeed a woman. Her clothes were carefully chosen from limited options, a grey hooded coat over a dark grey t-shirt with black slacks and boots for trudging through any situation. A few odd jobs at a thrift store had worked wonders, but this attire was only temporary. When her wardrobe became an option again, the woman would find what she needed. Granted that could only happen when she earned the right to it and so many things. The hair stuck out the most, pale honey yellow, it was the wrong color but the shade reminded her of her daughter.

She slouched slightly, the memories were coming back but also the pain with them.

A knock on the door jolted her out of grim thoughts she worked to make her own.

"Excuse me, Miss?" one of the employees, a woman in blue work shirt and tan khakis she remembered in the rush. "Are you actually going to buy something?" The worker knocked harder and the woman wondered if this was typically how customers were treated in clothing stores. She really missed her wardrobe, nobody to argue with but herself.

"No, just wanted to check on something. False alarm."

The woman unlocked the door and the employee nearly crashed into the booth. She caught her quickly and shuffled past all the curious onlookers. Leaving the place had been easier than coming inside and soon the streets of London were all around her. I need to prove myself, she thought, then the name sticks and all comes after that.

That goal would not be found 'shopping', which meant seeking danger would be required. Luckily, name or no name, man or woman, danger was never hard to find.


	2. Chapter 2

London had been a part of her life for longer than London would ever really be around, charms of time travel. Walking the streets in 2017, seeing a world she had helped preserve in many other lives, she considered the truth that if anyone remembered her actions that they were now considered in the past. Outside of what happened with Extremis, the world had no idea she still existed. That had been a necessity, couldn't keep an eye on Missy and be 'The Doctor', that title inevitably called a challenge.

Solitude was easily managed due a decision settled upon by herself and her granddaughter. Time travel was chaos, they had decided to settle in the 60's and proceed from that year chronologically, no matter the regeneration, so that the risk of crossing paths could be lessened. It also made it difficult to know if there even was a Doctor in the 'future', she might be the last… if she even grounded herself into the role before then.

She needed to find something, the Tardis never dropped her randomly anymore, if it ever did, and that meant that she needed to pay attention.

"Are looking for meaning in life?"

She made a note, can't see a thing from behind while wearing a hood. The woman turned around and saw a young man in a crisp stripe suit that gave her deja-vu in the strangest way. His hair was blonde too, but messier, almost like he should have worn anything but the suit. The smile he gave her struggled to form, she wondered how long it had been since he knew what it was like to be happy.

"Not sure," the woman said. "Sometimes I have it, sometimes I don't. A bit like socks really." This caused the woman to look at her feet. She tapped both boots which could be interpreted as dancing.

"What are you doing?" the man said.

"Not sure," the woman said as she continued to tap away. "Just realized something, I've never really considered socks. Just one of those things that I never care about, I could be barefoot under these, wouldn't even know." Her feet were searching for something, preferably in the right boot, but only found empty space. She hadn't earned _It_ yet and she couldn't be a security risk.

"Right," the man said, clearly he desperately needed volunteers otherwise she would have seen him running away. "Well, I was wondering if you'd like to hunt some aliens."

That made her stop dancing.

"I'm talking about extraterrestrials, space men from Mars," the man rolled into his sales pitch. "You must have heard the stories, right, how the Government's made a deal with them? They're invading and we need to protect our own, human up, especially against the Doctor."

She managed to blink and work to act as human as possible.

"T-The Doctor?" She said. "What, like a mad scientist bloke or something?"

"Worse," the man said. "I met him once. Ruined my life, he ruins everyone's lives. And yet he just keeps coming back, keeps coming back and no one stops him!" He looked surprised that she had stuck around to hear this less than charming verbal attack. She was wearing a mask and did not dare let it slip, that desperation in his eyes could always lead to trouble.

"Never met someone who just calls himself 'Doctor', sounds pretentious."

The man smiled.

"My name's Elton."

"Sarah." She said, it was a nice name that belonged to a dear friend long ago. "So, Elton, outside of yelling about this Doctor, what else do you do?"

Elton's smile grew, he needed to practice it because the sneer in his teeth made it a revolting act.

"I'm part of an organization," he said. "We work to study up on all the things the Government morons keep secret. We also have a bigger task, save the world from the biggest threat. Stop the Doctor."

The woman considered what this timeline implied about the world. Most likely, everyone encountered the 'ghosts' who had been Cybermen, the Zygone exposed by a cellphone video, that time when trees took over the whole planet, and when the Monks took over to name a few highlights. Humans had a way of forgetting that the woman envied considering how many demons clawed at her own memories. She guessed it would be practical to be a bit skeptical, hearing this diatribe and considering the speaker sane would be impossible without those echoes of chaos from the past. However, Elton was fueled by some deeper pain, wounded to his core, three regenerations ago she thought he had been well off for the rest of his days. But something happened and worse than that, someone had been speaking to him. This needed to be investigated.

"Well, Elton," she said. "the last few years have been crazy, so sign me up."

Elton held out his hand again, a black band was around his right wrist that would be where a watch was supposed to go. She remembered what that mark searched for. With a nanosecond to spare, she managed to have only one heart beating. The band did not react as she shook his hand, the deception worked.

"Welcome to Harmony Shoal."


	3. Chapter 3

The walk to the Tube was quick, they rode the circle track to Tower Hill and got off. They returned to the surface and the woman who called herself Sarah took a quick glance towards, the tower of London, unofficial headquarters of UNIT HQ. The idea that this group could plant itself so close to the main defense against alien threats, or a threat to the Doctor, without the Osgoods giving them a stern reprimand made her nervous. Human groups weren't capable of this kind of stealth.

It screamed alien.

"Sightseeing?"

Elton's words made her remember the role, clueless henchwoman-in-training.

"Just a little weirded out, I thought we'd be hiding out someplace. This is right in the middle of every tourist spot on the planet."

"Exactly," Elton explained. "No one has any clue what's endangering them so we decided to return the favor. We can be real sneaky when it counts."

"We being Harmony Shoal?"

"Yes," Elton said. "I was lost for a long time, but they helped me appreciate the idea of taking back power. There's nothing better than feeling in control."

The woman's memories were coming back faster, possibly the adrenaline. Two hearts pumped more blood, bringing more oxygen, and a refined sharpness to the mind. Images of mechanical monstrosities forged by stripping away weakness, humanity, all in the name of gaining control.

"Yeah," the woman said. "It's scary, losing control of your life." This she could say with absolute honesty.

They went down into a nearby parking garage between Tower Bridge and Big Ben. A sign claimed it was private parking but a quick flash of alien tech disguised like a key card made the locks vanish. They entered a service tunnel, the hum of cars and the trains rushed by them on both sides. The woman couldn't decide how deep they were, or if they were even underground. Technology had a way of taking people strange places, the mantra for many of her lives.

Darkness gave way to bright light as a blue tube opened up ahead, some type of elevator. They got inside, no buttons, which meant it was operated by a third party. Already trapped, she concluded, this was a horrible choice.

"Going down." Elton said musically.

The elevator lurched softly as if released by an unseen hand. It came to a halt in a blink, but physics came back to the woman as well as a way to 'read' machines, possibly a new talent. They had dropped five hundred feet and yet her ears hadn't popped.

The doors opened into a massive metal dome of space occupied by a very disturbing war room. Men and women rushed between massive charts with stockpiles of weapons both Earth-based and a few that made the woman realize there was a major leak in UNIT's evidence room. The name finally struck her, embarrassingly slow too despite being remembered from last Christmas. Shoal, return of the brain switchers, the woman needed to smile, wave, and get out quick. It was coming close to time for seeing if she still had running legs.

"You know, we usually like to test out recruits, make sure we get someone who can handle the truth. My wrist here, a little device inside helped scan that you can adapt to strange things."

"Yeah, well, I've seen a bit of Sci-Fi," she also possibly invented her share of it. There was never a way to know how much the echoes of her tales impacted the stories of others. "Secret underground bunkers are pretty vanilla as far as I'm concerned."

 _"What does ice cream have to do with secrets?"_

The woman spun around to look at the heavily scarred face of an alien who had taken over the body of a UNIT operative. He had been a family man, this would not go unpunished. She was starting to remember her anger.

"It's a figure of speech, meaning plain or simple," the woman put her hands in her coats pockets and decided to play rebellious, make it harder to intimidate. "So, you the boss?"

 _"I run this segment of our operations, yes,"_ the alien scar exhaled as pressure from the air due to the gap made his words give off a hissing sound. _"We are a team seeking the betterment of humanity. I myself am a victim of the Doctor, hence this deformity. I hope to repay him one day."_ Smiling did not work with this face, made it appear ready to split apart to create nightmares. The woman managed to give off a pleasant smile.

 _"I am Mr. Dent."_ The name seemed to be coming from both sides of his face. _"Head Authority of Shoal's UK Branch."_

"Sarah Jane," she said. "Wandering musician turned alien skull stomper, I guess." Shrugging came more naturally in this state. Acting casual was necessary when the truth would direct all kinds of nasty bullets and blasters at her. She didn't know if regeneration would be able to protect her from the worst of it until the foundation was settled. This trial of a task needed to be seen through to the end, and that meant playing along.

 _"Welcome Sarah Jane,"_ Mr. Dent said. _"We must proceed with your interview, as a means to better understand how you'll be of use."_ He nodded and small yet firm hands gripped her shoulders. Twins, young dark-skinned women with black hair braided into a ponytail were on either side of her. She barely heard them and the space was surprisingly silent despite all the work being done.

 _"Tia, Mia,"_ Mr. Dent said. _"Prepare Ms. Smith for an interview."_

"Yes sir," said the one on her left. "Count on us."

"We'll see if she's nice or naughty." The one on her right said.

They spun her around, quite strong despite being human, and practically carried her up a nearby flight of stairs. Elton walked up right behind them, as if this were a pleasant a stroll. The woman took in every detail she could, weapons, number of staff, lack of exits, and images plastered on several walls of prior companions. They were all under UNIT protection, and others who survived her adventures had intergalactic levels of defense. No one would dare endanger a friend of the Doctor, but better to keep one's guard up anyway. She wondered, hating herself for not considering it earlier, to see if Romana was still alive, if things worked out here and she made her way home one day, it would be a pleasant surprise.

"Turn here." The one on the left said as she shoved 'Sarah Jane' into a nearby door.

"Just to clear up the confusion, which of you is Tia and Mia?"

"That won't matter if the interview goes poorly." The one of the left said.

"But just so you know, I'm Mia," the one on the right said. "Tia here is going to ask the questions but I'm the one who kills you if you're naughty." Mia leaned in so her words could be whispered. "Between us girls, I hope you are." There was a glee in her voice that convinced the woman that this group had morality as a low factor in hiring.

The doorway was too narrow for all three of them to enter at the same time. 'Sarah Jane' entered first, followed by Tia, Elton, and Mia who stayed at the door. They were in a grey box of a room with dim fluorescent lights built into the ceiling that gave off a low hum. The woman was usually fond of boxes, even ones that were covered in an obscene level of grim to be mistaken as a grey-green coating. There was a single table in the middle and no chairs, the lights above gave it a deep shadow that swallowed everything. Elton walked on the opposite end of the room and turned to face the woman.

"It hurts more if you fight the truth." He said.

Before she could ask, something sharp stabbed her leg. Something was depressed and pushed a liquid into her leg and it spread in seconds. She barely shouted in pain before all sense left her body. Strong hands forced the woman onto her side on top of the table. The sensation grew worse, icicles spreading through at double the speed thanks to two hearts. She coughed out weakly in shock as her vision blurred.

"First and only question," Tia said as she looked the woman in the eye. "Who are you? Now get ready to tell us, because it may be the last time anyone ever hears it."

Mia's giggle was the last thing the woman processed before her mind swam in the sea of darkness, where truth would be her doom.


	4. Chapter 4

The woman calling herself Sarah Jane was going through Hell. A serum slithered through her veins making her lightheaded, everything became excruciatingly hot and soothingly cool at the same time. Sweat made everything she wore heavier while her body twitched in confusion of how to face this substance. Within this tempest, a command was heard.

Speak the truth, it said.

Speak and die.

"Who are you, Sarah Jane?" Tia said, the fever gripping the woman made her interrogator appear to pop up anywhere around the table. The dark-skinned woman's face took up all of Sarah's vision, cold eyes glaring at her.

"How about we start with something basic," she said. "Like how that's not your real name."

Sarah choked on air, her body stifled any form of talking back.

"Here's a fun tidbit," Mia voice chimed in. "The harder you fight, the more likely you'll see something freaky."

Chrome figures with bumps aimed specialized guns at her face. Stone hands appeared in flickering light, faces worthy of Hell, all inching closer in the growing darkness. The last face was an old foe, the Master before becoming Missy, saying something only he could.

 _"You ever wonder, all those little people you put in that box. Would you have dared to step into that Tardis, little Susan in tow, if you knew those doors were to be stained in blood?"_

The scariest thing of all was that she had no answer.

"Answer me, or the nightmare continues."

"No."

Tia leaned in, a new syringe full of the horrific serum. "Speak clearly, no one survives two shots of this."

The woman turned her head up, tears forming.

"I'm not Sarah Jane."

"Then who are you?" Elton said.

A picture slid onto the table. Peripheral vision showed the hint of a forest she did not know, but the silhouette was a blonde woman whose image was becoming better understood. There was also a hint of a blue rectangle.

"We tried to acquire the Tardis, but it vanished before we could find it. All we know is that you left it. A companion of the Doctor."

 _Companion!?_

The woman tried her best to ignore how irritating it was to be accused of being a passenger in her… why couldn't she call the Tardis hers?

"He always seems to have thing for blondes." Elton said. "What better bait than the Doctor's latest girlfriend."

"It could be her." Elton and Tia turned as Mia stepped forward. She was the mirror image of her twin, but the smile expressed unhinged malice.

"Wouldn't that be funny, asking our own target to be bait. The Doctor herself, legendary Timelord, helpless." A knife shined in the fluorescent glow, the woman's panicked features in its reflection.

"Please," Elton said. "The Doctor is a man, always, why would he decide to be a woman?"

"I'm not liking that tone, Elly" Mia said. "You make being a woman sound like stepping down. Not nice. You should be more respectful to our guest."

"Oh please, you're here promising to carve her up and worse, how am I scum for stating facts?"

Mia snickered and sheathed the blade.

"My tone and toys mean that this woman impresses me enough to have my attention. Same for you right, Tia?"

Her sister's face showed no response to the question.

"If she's really the Doctor, then her being here is what we've all been training for. I say we let her recover, and give me a proper challenge. I've read the field reports, heard the stories, and if she's half of what they've promised, it would be a beautiful bit of carnage between us." Her eyes glimmered with the toxic possibilities.

"Before you continue daydreaming, dear sister, I may not agree with Elton's poor expectations of women but a question must be answered."

Tia gripped the woman by the chin and drilled her eyes into the other. Mia leaned, excited for the answer. Elton, while clearly skeptical, didn't turn away.

"Are you the Doctor?"

The question made the woman lurch. Nightmares gave to a thousand needles worth of agony drilling into her skin. Screaming in pain wasn't possible because of the agony bombarding her flesh. She was more confused than hurt.

Because she wanted to say 'yes'.

The serum, however, forced the truth out of her.

"I'm not the Doctor." The words were Hell to speak.

"See," Elton said. "Told you."

Tia wasn't dissuaded.

"Why is it hard to admit the truth? Do you wish you were the Doctor?"

"Yes." This time the answer shot out immediately, with desperation.

"Can't blame her for that," Mia said. "All that power, all that chaos, girl's best dream."

"But you aren't the Doctor, are you?" Elton said.

The woman fought but the truth couldn't be stopped, her willpower burned to nothing.

"No, I'm not the Doctor."

Elton leaned in.

"Not a companion either, are you?"

"No."

"I bet he left her, he does that all the time. Bet you're just another failure, someone who messed up and can't go back."

She wanted to scream how he was wrong, but that only brought pain. It was worse than a lie, the woman believed that moving on had been the worst decision.

"Yes." The woman placed her head against the table, not giving them the satisfaction of her pain.

The three looked at each other, not saying a word. They had gotten their answers.

"The serum has a way of making people exhausted," Elton said. "You can tell us all about who you really are, later."

They started to walk away. Mia apparently was the last one out the door.

"Just so you know, I don't think you're being honest, maybe a little unsure is all. You got an aura about you. When it's all clear in the head, let me know, I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do."

Darkness consumed her, it was welcomed. Whatever the woman wanted, this rite of passage had only proven she wasn't worthy of it. Perhaps, she had thought this was the case all along and fought to ignore it.

Only then did the woman's mind drift to someplace… peculiar.


	5. Chapter 5

"You just going to lie there?"

The woman stirred and noticed she was no longer in the interrogation room. Now she gazed out at the stars, spotting several massive suns so close her flesh should have boiled away. A heat shield's shimmering glow explained why she still had skin. What made her sweat was seeing the barrier shimmer, it would soon vanish and consume the planet.

"I'm just saying," the man said. "I've heard of tanning, but most people don't go 'bone-deep', love the commitment though."

She stood up to get a better view of the man. Despite only the vague hint of a leather jacket and rather odd ears, the woman could not call him a stranger. He turned around, his attire completely black and walked over to her. The older man had a perpetual grin on his face.

 _The 9_ _th_ _Doctor._

"I could use a hand," he said, helping her up. "Some corporation wants this planet to burn, make it look like an industrial accident."

"How would that work?" She said.

"Well picture this," he said while walking over to a solar panel nearby. "This planet's a summer home, solar panels take in the sun's heat to charge the shield and keeps everything nice and cool. The competition doesn't like that, wants to prove the tech is faulty so their own space hotels get more customers. Bad news, shield's perfect. Worst news, they decided on using cloaked drones to send out a signal that weakens the effectiveness of the panels. We've got about two minutes, wait, no, we have a minute and forty seconds to find one drone and destroy them all."

"Because if we find the one, we can override them all since they're all using the same programming." The woman said.

9 smiled. "Now you're catching on. Thing is, can't seem to find the things. Any ideas?"

An idea did form in her mind, certain death had a way of speeding up one's thoughts.

"You got a screwdriver?"

"Of course." 9 said, he pulled out the pen-sized device. "But it's no good if you can't se—"

The woman snatched the screwdriver and flipped through the settings. 9 watched, quietly, as she worked.

"The drones have to be poised around the panels to be effective, so there should be one competing with this panel right now. We just have to give it a bit more bite." She pressed the button and a sonic hum was drowned out by the panels increased energy. A slight flicker in the air made her charge the panel even more. Sparks erupted as a metal ball plummeted to the ground. She and 9 rushed over, a quick scan imprinted the signal and the woman amplified it until the sound of other metal orbs hitting the ground was heard.

"20 seconds to spare," 9 said. "Hope you're not planning to take your sweet time with these things. A tan's not worth the risk."

A pat on the back from 9 made everything vanish.


	6. Chapter 6

The woman was now in a massive rainstorm. Water poured down so hard that she could almost imagine swimming. A solitary figure appeared, standing at the edge of a cliff. She got closer and saw him looking down at a building below, the roof close enough to promise making it or bone crushing death for a misstep.

"Took you long enough," the man had spikey brown hair and wore a bright blue suit, an umbrella kept him dry. _The 10_ _th_ _Doctor_ , she realized.

"Seems an alien Queen is being held prisoner. Overheard some priests say they plan on liberating her. Bad idea."

"Why?" She said. "Aren't you going to help them?" She had no desire to question why these adventures were happening, just glad to be among friends… in a way.

"Weelll, no," 10 said, dragging out the word. "You see, apparently this Queen's possibly going to consume the universe if freed."

"Wait, wouldn't someone like that be locked away in a temple or something?"

"Usually, but you know how real estate is, temples are in such disrepair, you can't blame the priests for deciding on an economic approach."

The woman leaned over the edge, fear gripped her, the fall was quite steep.

"Well, we better get a move on." 10 said as he covered her with the umbrella. "Queens in the basement. The priests should be working on opening her door."

He gestured and the woman instinctively grasped the umbrella. She knew what was coming.

"Shouldn't we try the front door?" she said.

"Bad idea, the priests have it blocked off, they're expecting people to come through the front."

"Besides," he said. "Everyone wants to be Mary Poppins."

They jumped together, the umbrella managed to control their descent, the woman guessed it was an anti-gravity device within. The two of them landed on the slick rooftop. Thunder boomed as lightning flashed, illuminating the latch at a corner of the roof. 10 pulled out the sonic that 9 used and the opening popped up. They rushed downstairs and quickly snuck down several levels. Black robed figures stood near the front windows on each floor, rifles aimed out at the darkness. The woman wondered what exactly caused this much precaution, she also wondered what could be expected to eat the whole universe.

She got her answer when they reached the basement. Scaling down a ladder, they landed on a scaffolding surrounding a red wall. A wall… with ridges… that was moving. The deafening grumble shattered any delusion, this _was_ the Queen. Another thing that shocked her was that she could actually understand her, worse, the words made her want to scream.

"Got the translation?" 10 said.

The woman nodded. "We need to stop her."

10 nodded, taking out a pair of spectacles. He crouched and placed a hand on the Queen. The woman hesitated for a moment but then placed her own hand on the nearest ridge. Her mind became bombarded with images worthy of a perfect apocalypse. Planets consumed like candy, with billions of screams silenced in a crunch of teeth. A universe reduced to scraps in a feeding frenzy.

She pulled her hand away, tears came to her eyes that she wiped away. 10 looked at her, his eyes were also wet.

"We can't let her get out." She said.

"We won't." 10 said. His attention was redirected right past her shoulder. Instinct kicked in, not playing the cliché of turning around, she waited until she felt a shift in the air and ducked. Something metal clanged above her and she rolled forward before turning about. A robed priest with a broadsword stepped forward, a slight scratch in the creature's hide. The Queen grumbled but the mark was clearly the equivalent of a paper cut. The priest raised his blade, a glow from overhead lights shined on the weapons of other priests behind him.

"Got a plan," she asked.

"Yep," 10 said as the blades were pointed at them. "RUN!"

The two ran across the scaffold, it was curved and functioned like a race track. She never imagined having to run but it did seem good to know she could do it with ease. 10 started to slow down and the woman did the same instinctively. Her mind came up with a dawning revelation.

"We're in front of the door for the Queen," the woman said. 'How do I know that?"

"Simple," 10 said. "You did the work in your head, going around the creature gave you an understanding of its circumference and told you where we needed to be."

"That's pretty crazy." the woman said.

"Possibly," 10 said. "Or you're just remembering." He winked as he said this.

The woman blinked as she processed what that meant. This situation was insane, but it felt familiar at the same time. She was living the experiences of her past lives.

This helped her remember to duck again as blades from both sides swung at their heads.

'Mary Poppins?" 10 said, tossing her the screwdriver.

"Mary Poppins." The woman said as she activated the sonic screwdriver. The scaffold plummeted as the woman opened the umbrella. Its device slowed their descent to a crawl. Landing on the lowered platform, the monks crushed remains hinted below, they were at perfect eye level with a red-black pupil the size of a building.

"How'd we solve this?" the woman said nervously. "Memory is limited when we're together."

"So, you admit these are your memories." 10 said. "Good."

"Yeah, well, I think I'd like to know how the script played out." The woman said nervously. "This Queen blinks are we're crushed."

"I guess we should figure out what we did again." 10 leaned against the scaffolding. "Big ol entity, hard to imagine them building a door for her. Especially under such a small building. How would it get out and not be spotted? Can't be everywhere at once."

That caused the woman to turn her head and see what was overlooked. Most would focus on the creature, and forget the prison. Holes lined the wall, which could be mistaken for stone but wasn't, it was a sheet of metal with openings. She eyed the dots and lights glowing between them. The pattern became clear.

"It scatters the body," she said. "A billion mini Queens that expand, reform, and consume any planet the priests choose. This isn't a monster of prophecy, it's an augmented teleporter for a weapon."

10 nodded with a grin. "And we both know that if it's a matter of expansion, there's only one trick to turn it around."

She smiled, getting the answer… possibly again.

"Reverse the polarity." They said in unison. _Make the beast condense on itself and turn it inside out._ A bit grim but this creature had been born to kill planets, that was the way it must end. Taking a breath, she righted herself and did what must be done to protect all. Of course, that didn't mean she had to be cruel, just… fair.

She flicked through the settings and found one that would work and fired. The lights blared at the teleporter activated. Billions of red molecules slipped through the holes. The whole base shook violent as cracks formed along the walls. One of the priests shouted at them below.

"What'd you do!?"

"Gave it a new target," she said. "Here."

With that said, 10 hopped to his feet and together they shot up and towards a ladder to the surface just as the interior split apart, using the umbrella to make Mary Poppins proud. They ascended quickly, knowing the beast of a 'Queen' would consume the planet and the order of corrupt monks. Without the stabilizing agent of the planet to act as an anchor, the creature would scatter to nothing. But they'd be long gone by then. In fact, the woman already felt herself being transported somewhere new.


	7. Chapter 7

The woman broke through a silo hatch and found herself beside a large metal structure in a forest. Sunlight shined down and a cast a shadow that gave her some shade. Standing at 200 feet, rounded and smoothed, the woman wondered what memory this was connected to. A buzz caught in her ears and she turned around to see a 'young' man's features coated in the emerald hue.

 _The 11_ _th_ _Doctor_

"So, you're the new one," he said. "Still can't get the hair right."

"It's not really up to me." She said.

"But it shouldn't be hard to make the change count," 11 said while tapping his head. "Think tangerine, but cooler, thing it over and over again, go to bed sipping orange juice. Hell, CARROT JUICE if that's what it takes!" Even the woman felt a chill of fear run through her at the thought of carrot juice.

"You know," she said. "I'm pretty sure I wasn't thinking about being ginger, especially not here."

"Well it's my imagination too," 11 muttered. "Besides, this is all just the memory building up, like a computer program except it's not. Things didn't get interesting until the bees come out."

 _Bees?_

That was when a louder buzzing was heard. The buzzing the woman felt was shaking her bones. A rush of wind made her look up. Bees the size of trucks rushed towards them, singers prepped to stab. This time 11 was the one following when they rushed for the trees.

"This is a nature reserve," the woman muttered while running past trees. "I could smell the honey, this is where most of the galaxy gets the product. Siphoned from those silos while the main hives are directly below."

"Say, you're remembering a lot, this memory ought to go quick."

"Nope, just remembering what I read. I miss that library."

"I miss that pool." 11 mused.

"You would." she said.

"What's that supposed to mean," 11 said. "I was great at this. Solved this problem didn't I, the honey was being poisoned."

"Yes, I know, I can smell the sour odor in the air, we're heading to where the hive opens up."

"So why are we talking?"

The woman grabbed 11 and yanked him forward as a stinger almost went through his throat. A bee angrily buzzed and pulled out of the forest, both 11 and the woman massaged their necks simultaneously.

"What I mean," she muttered after a moment. "Is that you were always trying to be more human, laughing, dancing, and lying became part of our code. Some even called it our first rule."

"Can't hurt to be clever…" 11 said.

The woman rolled her eyes.

"It can if we lie to ourselves, forget what this was supposed to be about."

"You sound like someone who has."

This made the woman quiet. Part of why the truth serum haunted her was because what should be the most honest answer had been stolen from her. And she'd had been the thief. 11 didn't look pleased to make this conclusion.

"I lied because I thought it would make people stop looking at me like some kind of hero." 11 said. "The face before mine made everyone happy, they all laid down their lives for me. I didn't want that again. But lying made things worse, they couldn't trust me, and tried to kill me. I had to get married just to keep the whole universe in one piece." He smiled sadly, the woman remembered they did that a lot back then, despite the fun with fezzes.

She remembered the face between the two of theirs, he had been honest. People mistook that for being cruel, cold, but the list of cults seeking their death and unnecessary allies willing to risk their lives for them had been narrowed down. It wasn't perfect, but the point of life is to somehow move forward. Each face, each decision, shaped everything that followed.

The woman began to consider the fact that she didn't want to keep pretending this face was a deception.

Her two hearts beat faster.

"Wow'," 11 said. " _I_ felt that. Feels weird. Is that some kind of… Time Lady thing?"

She grinned.

"Time Lord," she corrected. "What we're feeling right now, that's honesty. Truth without fear."

She helped 11 to stand up.

"I think I just remembered what it's like to live like a doctor."

The hearts pounded like drums, not a battle cry but a beacon.

"I am here to help."

Her body stirred, but the process did not feel complete.

 _Just a little more._

In the meantime, why not play the adventure out.

"We decided to hunt a colony of red leeches that had survived, after meeting one during the Crimson Horror incident," she said. "Found out that the gang of them had decided to spoil the honey supply. Took over the one of the main hives through controlling a Queen. The workers are confused, they know something's wrong but can't dare sabotage the hive."

"Right," 11 said with the sonic screwdriver raised like a wand. "And with the right frequency, off go all the little suckers. Ready?"

The woman narrowed her eyes, glaring at the tool.

"What?" 11 said.

"Just thinking," she said. "We've been abusing that device a little too much. Can't sonic our way out of everything, otherwise we'll forget to be creative other ways. I mean, we, _you_ tried brushing your teeth with sonic waves."

"Oi," he said firmly. "That was only One time, and it was the molars, you try reasoning with this chin. And don't even get me started on the _shaving._ "

"I'll be sure to avoid the subject with regards to my ears."

11 scowled and muttered something about her hair still not being right. It took a moment but they settled, can't argue with yourself all day even in a dream. With a deep breath, the two charged through a nearby clearing, diving past troubled car-sized bees and dove head-first into the pit.


	8. Chapter 8

"Geromino!" The woman shouted into the darkness, arms raised and awkwardly processed how she was alone. No sign of 11 or anyone else around to hear her outcry, which she couldn't decide was a good or bad thing. In fact, this place rang no bells in her memory.

That was when she heard the final words of some of her dearest companions.

Her wife promising that the reason she knew her real name was a spoiler of things to come before shocking herself.

Amy saying farewell before a weeping angel ended one of her closest family.

She remembered Katarina, Aldric, Sarah Jane Smith, Rory, Osgood, the Brigadier and all those who on some level had long passed but who she could never forget. They were part of her in way that she'd never dare to abandon. The pain struck both hearts like thunderbolts and she cried out but the darkness was unrelenting.

A mirror formed in front of her. She couldn't see her reflection though. Placing a hand on the smooth surface made it shatter and reform into several mirrors surrounding her. Thirteen of them, each with a man whose face she understood quite well, they had belonged to her.

1: The old man who once called a scrapyard home.

2: The sly music lover with the hairstyle to match.

3: The semi-exiled spy working for UNIT.

4: The traveler with wit as extensive as his scarf.

5: The one who made wearing a vegetable necessary with a game of cricket.

6: The troubled fighter whose demons came to life.

7: The cold, brilliant, tactician with a thousand plans under his umbrella.

8: The brilliant soul who saw beauty in the universe turn to war.

The man who went to war.

9: The one who remembered love.

10: The hero… and his 'brother' (kind of weird but whose keeping count)

11: The lover of bowties, a living storm, smiling yet alone.

12: The experienced one who reminded himself what it took to be the Doctor

"Still lost looking for faces?"

She leaped back as the old man with eyebrows that could conquer a small nation stepped through the mirror. 10, 11, and 9 followed his example, the four of them surrounding her.

"So, this is what comes my way," 9 said. "Hair that could impale a bird, a chin that can sink a ship, and eyebrows that consumed a cloud. I clearly had little to complain about when it came to ears."

"Right, I forgot, he was the 'funny' one." 11 muttered.

"You're telling me," 10 said, trying not to tap at his hair. "Might be right about that chin though."

"Oh, well excuse me for choosing a more memorable look than sand shoes!"

9 got into the argument and the three of them continued bickering. The woman watched but felt herself being distanced from the men who stood barely a foot away before. Only 12 remained by her side.

"Why aren't the others coming?" She said.

"No need," 12 said. "We decided the ones who came after the Time War had more of a reason to connect with you, all of us survivors of that cruel time."

"I'm not haunted by it as much anymore." She said.

"That's not the same thing as rejecting it," 12 said. "It just means you know well enough what it can look like, and fight like Hell to keep others from suffering that pain. You don't need to punish yourself to remember that pain in order to give a damn."

A bit dark, but she did feel a bit better.

They walked, a path of grey stairs rising up with each step. A light was in the distance high above them but getting closer.

"What is all of this," She said. "The memories, seeing you all, and bouncing about my life story. I've never had this experience before."

"The best way to describe it is… a download. All that we are usually travels to the next body well enough with a few personality quirks adjusted depending on the final thoughts. This is the slower version of the download."

"Being a woman muddled it up a bit."

"Not at all," 12 said reluctantly. "I'm the reason the process is being difficult."

She had never considered that the problem hadn't come from her in some.

"What do you remember," 12 said. "About my final moments before the change."

She closed her eyes, the ascent wasn't affected.

"I remember an old man, the first of me, and an old friend. I remember fire. A promise to long-lasting and loyal family." She smiled slightly. "I don't remember anything else, what does that have to do with me being a woman?"

12 nodded, keeping quiet about how those images connected on that Christmas day both long ago and very recently, charms of time travel.

"I thought about it a lot," he said. "How things change, but I can't tell sometimes if we're getting better or worse. I made my peace with it by seeking to be kind in the end."

"But maybe we can be more."

They looked at each other with a clam clarity.

"The will to fight is strong, to help, and to never be cruel or cowardly. What's needed is a fresh pair of eyes. Yours."

"I think I wanted to give us, to give you, the choice to embrace this task on your terms. Or not."

This made her almost stumble. The anxiety that had no reason to be there finally had an explanation.

"You caused this?" She said.

The stairs ceased growing, 30 more before climb plateaued. They fully faced each other, neither had a face that showed hesitation or regret of what might be said. Mainly this was because they knew they weren't looking for a fight.

"I felt that pain when we remembered all our friends," 12 said. "I remember when we made an effort to visit Susan. We had found her, they planted her in a wonderful garden, honorary laurels for her service to humanity. A young girl delivered the latest wreath, asking us if we knew her. She had no clue she was speaking to her great-great-grandfather, she had Susan's eyes."

The woman and 12 felt tears come to their own.

"Our first companion." She said sweetly. 12 returned the smile.

"That's their fate," he said. "We can show them the stars, help them save whole civilizations, and treat the whole thing as a grand old vacation, but we can never stop the truth."

"They eventually stop, we don't."

She remembered, telling Susan a long time ago that her granddaughter needed to plant roots of her own, back when she was the 1st Doctor. Had she given herself the same option? Plant roots in one time, be someone else and possibly be at peace. That couldn't happen as the Doctor, but perhaps that was the point. Could she stop running? The question made her speak to 12.

"You've all experienced this, in one form or another, this can't have been the first time the option has been there. Hell, I bet, outside of our transformation into 3, we choose to come back and do all of this again. This is all in my head, so where do I need to look for an answer for why we keep going?"

12 smiled.

"Funny thing, looking for answers in your own head," he turned to look at the stairs. "They're as hard to find as you wish them to be."

The woman followed his gaze and nearly fell backward. Stairs were being swallowed into nothingness. The plateaued platform quickly came down to them, but it was already preoccupied.

"Took you long enough," 9 said with 11 and 10 beside him. "Try the elevator next time, much easier."

The woman took a step onto the platform and 12 followed her. When all five of them were standing close to each other, they turned to face the sky. Thousands of stars swirled to life and spun around them. They smiled at the wondrous site. The men had their backs to her but she suddenly realized she had overlooked just how much they overcame despite the fear of having destroyed Gallifrey. The whole of existence had survived thanks to their actions, she had lost count of how many times that happened. Something finally occurred to the woman, she had almost forgotten what really compelled all her desire to take that Tardis and change life for all.

It returned to her.

After being exposed to a vortex of time, she had spent years, decades running away from it all. Satisfied with chronicling events, but never setting foot off world. It had been a good life, married early, and her son had married a wonderful woman, and eventually… that led to Susan. When they died in that accident, not Time Lords and doomed to a mortals fate, Susan needed a caretaker. But she had no clue how to help a girl who had lost so much. On a whim, she offered to go stargazing, just like Susan's parents used to do with her. They spent hours on a red-orange dune, gazing at constellations that were now the same ones being witnessed in her memory. Susan smiled and asked the question that shaped everything.

 _"Grandfather, who's out there?"_

The answer would be her greatest truth, she remembered the words. The promise of an old man who rarely lived, but remembered that there were a slew of old Tardises rarely used anymore.

 _"I'm not quite sure, Susan, tell you what, we'll go meet them."_

That explosion of power caused everything to come crashing back. One trip turned into several, human history had always been a fun subject so they visited the highlights. This led to Susan wishing to see how schools educated about history. And then two teachers decided to investigate who the unearthly child in their classes called family.

And eventually, the journey was destination. See everything her granddaughter never could, and make sure everyone else could enjoy it too.

Something finally connected.

The woman trembled, a flash of gold came over her body. A promise came to mind.

 _"Run like Hell, because you'll always need to"_

"I think we have contact." 10 said.

 _"Laugh at everything, because it's always funny."_

"Well at least we didn't make someone wait this time." 11 said awkwardly.

 _"Never be cruel. Never be cowardly."_

"Is she ready you think, a lot of scary people with guns waiting when she wakes up." 9 said.

 _"And if you ever are, always forgive."_

"Exactly," 12 said. "I'd be scared too, if I were them."

They turned around, looking at the same person but no longer simply the woman.

"Who are you?" 12 said.

She smiled back.

"Ready."

And with that, the world awaited.


	9. Chapter 9

"Did someone hearing glass breaking?" Elton said. They had barely left the room for a minute before the sound boomed behind them. Mia got excited.

"I knew she was faking." Mia said.

"Hey," Elton said. "Mr. Dent's going to want her in one piece."

"Don't fret, I'll save the big pieces." She pulled out her knife.

With a flourish, Mia opened the door to darkness. The poor angle in the facility made it impossible for any light to illuminate the room. Their only reason for not going inside was because… something told them that would be a poor decision.

"You were searched by our scanners," Mia said. "There's nothing you have that poses a threat, even broken glass is nothing compared to our toys. Now come on out and pay for the light you broke."

After a moment, several small metal objects rolled out the doorway. Tia stepped forward, cautiously, and picked up one.

"Screws," Tia said. "But where did she… the table legs!"

The legless table barreled through the opening and collided with the railing. All three backed away, eyeing the dark interior. Then they realized gravity should have made the table fall.

The woman stood up a moment later.

"Can I help you with something?" She asked.

Elton had no clue what to make of this, the woman wasn't acting the same. The quivering mess of nerves he could deal with, but this woman who smiled now, she scared him.

"Hmmm," she said. "You know, I think I see the problem, tables missing legs. Can't really call it a table anymore, can we? I guess it'd have to be a flat bed, bit uncomfortable though, what do you th—"

The knife impaled a table leg, she'd carried it just for the occasion. Turning it over, the woman poked at it. She eyed Mia, more disappointed than annoyed.

"Did you not get enough love as a child? Asking for a friend, she thinks you're upset."

"I did," Mia said, holding out a hand as Tia tossed her another knife. "Me and my sister were well looked after, until some alien burned our home. Makes me want to see you and yours face to face, find out whose tougher."

"Fighting just for fighting goes nowhere, trust me." She said.

"We'll see."

Mia rushed forward.

A flick of the table leg shot the knife out, Mia ducked and Elton yelped as it struck the wall adjacent to him. The woman stood prepared, still smiling.

"Which aliens were they, the ones that attacked your home?"

"Does it matter?" Mia snarled as she stabbed. The woman dodged smoothly, chopped the knife out of Mia's hand, and kicked the table down on the assassin's foot who screamed right before being spun and flipped onto the table. The sheer shock of collision drained the fight from her.

"Only matters because I'm probably the reason why those aliens stopped burning things. That's just how it goes."

The woman stepped over Mia and eyed the members of Harmony Shoal watching her.

"Mr. Dent," she shouted. "After some consideration, I must decline your job offer."

 _"Poor choice,"_ Mr. Dent growled. _"Then there's no reason for your continued existence."_

Every member grabbed a nearby blaster and aimed them right at the woman. She playfully danced her fingers along the railing. Closing her eyes, she spoke.

"UNIT Science Command Code: Crushed Daisies."

Every weapon glowed red and zapped their wielders. They plopped to the ground, a painful charge kept anyone from using the weapons procured from UNIT.

"Really glad I made sure to keep that non-gender specific, would have been very awkward otherwise. Wait a minute," she leaned over and tapped through her boots. "Huh, so I am wearing socks."

 _"Identify yourself!"_ Mr.Dent said.

"No need," she said. "You know me well, Mr. Dent, my vigilante friend in the cape stopped you two Christmases ago. Of course, I had a different face then."

All but Mr. Dent were baffled by this.

"But if you insist, let's make it official."

She jumped up on the railing, hands on her hips and a clever grin as disarming as the tricks performed moments ago.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor," she said and a wave of prowess seemed to bellow with the words as the universe finally adjusted to recognize her. "Time Lord of Gallifrey, and you've all misbehaved for too long. Prepare for a reckoning."

The Doctor hopped back onto the second floor, a baffled Elton glaring at her with what she assumed was contempt but his trembling showed how much this bitterness was built on fear.

"That's not how it works," he muttered. "The Doctor cannot be a woman."

"And who made you authority over me?" The Doctor said. "I think you're mistaking knowing me for ownership of what I can or cannot do, not nice."

"T-This is all a t-trick," Elton said. "As expert of the Doctor, I guarantee if there's proof this… woman can even dare be t—"

"Jackie never forgave you for lying about why you wanted to be mates and if it wasn't for that Abzorbaloff, Rose's wrath would have rivaled the Daleks, Elton Pope, formerly of LINDA."

Elton plopped to the floor, eyes wide with horror.

"Oh, God, it is you." He whimpered.

"Well, you heard the expert, folks," the Doctor said. "Then again, you're a tad less provincial in your expectations, aren't you, Mr. Dent."

The head of Harmony Shoal stepped forward with a grin that threatened to split his head open.

 _"Your special friend is not here, Doctor, and you are surrounded. Guns are not necessary to perform extensive harm."_

His words prompted all the members to rush to the nearest heavy object and wield them like clubs. The Doctor noticed out of the corner of her eyes that Tia withdrew a handgun. Smarter ones always had a personal gun, the Doctor made a note to remember that.

 _"Your death will be of great appreciation for the Shoal, Doctor."_

"Hold that thought." She held up a hand and used the other to tap various parts of her body. This action was done quickly, before anyone could dare to be ordered to come up for a fight or pull a trigger. Thinking it over, she guessed the spot on the second go around and pressed a spot beneath her right rib.

 _ **Click**_

"Bingo"

An alarm sounded. Orange emergency lights bathed the area in its bright glow. Everyone but Mr. Dent and the Doctor were rattled by this.

"You see," the Doctor began. "Back when I was stranded on Earth for a time, working at UNIT, they tried several times to find the means to keep a tracer on me. Don't like being followed, so I usually got rid of them. But after a bit, it seemed like a nice idea. I decided to keep one, just in case, and placed it somewhere that could never change."

 _"That does not explain why they've found this place."_

"Why, because you placed this base in a dimensional rift with the outer layer acting as a faraday cage to keep us locked in place?"

"How'd she figure that out?" a man said, muttering near Mr. Dent. "I built this bloody thing and it took me a year to get it right."

"First off, use copper, would have saved you time," the Doctor said. "Second, well, the fine women and men of UNIT have gone through some… heavy loses over the years. So, when it comes to me, they follow my signature and beam in, going Rambo in the process. CALVARY!"

UNIT soldiers, red caps and guns drawn, teleported into the base. They used stun weapons, the charm of the command code made sure everyone behaved. There was more shouting and arguing than agony, Mr. Dent's money no longer mattered as a motivator and they crumbled easily. The Doctor knew this before leaving her interrogation cell. This allowed her to turn in the direction of Tia, still standing a foot away with a gun aimed to shoot, with a smile.

"Tia, revenge can't bring back what you lost. You've been doing this look after your sister. I know what that's like, and the things done for family. But the only way this story ends with you two together is surrendering now. Do it, and I'll make sure you are never tormented by aliens again. That is my word, and I have stopped armies with that alone."

Tia's face had been blank for most of the time they'd known each other, but she gave the Doctor a flicker of a smile. The Doctor turned around and proceeded to walk away from the madness, the small clatter of a gun hitting the floor echoed behind her. The UNIT soldiers went near her, touched their ear pieces and proceeded to overlook the Doctor. She left the whole business of Earth affairs to humans and more attentive eyes.

The Osgoods watched the scene unfold on their monitor while simultaneously sipping from Tardis mugs.

"Well, this explains the absence from the inventory." Osgood on the left said.

"Someone's going to have to do a lot of paperwork," Osgood on the right said. "Going to be a fun weekend."

They adjusted the camera on the whole scene and tried to take in some explanation for why this happened. A single woman stood out from the crowd. Before they could ask, she looked directly at the camera and winked before putting up her hood.

"Obviously." They said in unison, smiling.

A bit different, but the contingency had been placed long ago by the Brigadier after the Daleks invaded Earth the first time. They flipped a coin, knowing who would pick which side, and once that was settled Osgood proceeded to make the phone call. A few quick words led to the new addition to an office room in one of the lower levels of UNIT headquarters.

The space held no grand secrets or weapons but functioned as a record of sorts. Filing cabinets, row after row of them with files containing various accounts on Earth and beyond, all based around a curious individual. These cabinets filled up randomly at times. A new one was placed inside, like the others, a numeral was written on the front.

 **13**


	10. Chapter 10

The Doctor returned to London's streets. Her true nature finally formed and the universe awaited. But one more thing needed to be settled.

She leaned against a nearby wall and waited. He arrived a moment later.

"Doctor!" Elton shouted, looking around.

"Over here." She said.

He still needed to spin around two more times before bothering to recognize the she was indeed the Doctor, they were the only two on the street.

"I-I don't know what to say, you've saved my life."

"Is that how you want to look at all of this?"

Elton looked baffled.

"Listen, I was just doing my job before. And you didn't exactly decide to be honest."

This made her laugh.

"If I had been, I'd be dead," she said. "Mr. Dent alone should have made this obvious to you, when he came to you and formed the latest club to murder me."

"W-We just wanted to keep people safe." He muttered.

The Doctor looked at Elton Pope and saw living proof of why her enemies would always have a way in. She needed to break this cycle.

"I mean Mia and Tia are way worse than me, why am I getting this host—"

"Elton Pope, I know why you've sought me out and I have an answer for you."

She stomped forward until they were looking each other right in the eye. He fidgeted, struggling to possibly raise his hands but didn't want to be seen as weak.

"You're never going to be my companion."

He tried to scoff her words, make it silly 'woman's intuition', but the glare silenced all sense of false bravado.

"B-But I know so much," Elton said. "I know tons about the universe, way more than those other losers you hang around with."

He yelped with the spark of fury that flashed in her eyes.

"That answer alone is enough. You will never know how small you were compared to those I've known. This is our last conversation. Speak your peace and meet me never again."

The honesty in her face forced him to gain a renewed layer of stubbornness.

"Is that what you told Rose?"

If there was any sign of shock, the Doctor showed Elton nothing.

"I knew it, it always ends badly. I said as much, it's just takes meeting you once, Doctor, and lives are ruined. Go on, tell me I don't know how grand your companions were, it didn't bother to make them less likely to die. I will outlast them all, Doctor, I win by sur—"

"Ursula."

His words were silenced instantly.

"Mr. Skinner, Bridget, and Bliss, all members of LINDA, your little club made to investigate me. You invited an Abzorbaloff into that club and killed everyone. You joined a member of Shoal's plan to kill me without hesitation. And _Yet_ , you dare think yourself a victim, that you deserve an award for being needy and hurting others in an attempt to meet me. Do any of the souls you've loved ever visit your memory or are they simply too much of a burden? I've wished to burn all the weeping angels for stealing my family but I would never dare disrespect Amy or Rory by making them an excuse for blood to spill, never my family."

One look from Elton was all she needed to know the truth, he had all but forgotten the names of those he knew in LINDA. Except for Ursula.

"She left me, somehow, even though her soul was in a hunk of pavement, she still managed to leave me. After three years, she abandoned me."

"She was barely alive, she needed to leave." The Doctor said, not proud of this revelation.

"That's not her choice to make, not when it affects me!" Elton screamed, a few passersby gawked but most paid little attention to the sad man or the woman who looked at him with pity.

"You cared more about having her than if she could be part of that life, Elton," the Doctor said. "In a world built on love and monsters, if I'd learned anything, it's that life owes no one a thing. I am no fantasy to be desired, just a traveler meeting and helping when and where I can. That's my life, now stop chasing the fantasy and make something worthwhile of yours when you can't poison mine."

A black vehicle arrived, a man and woman in black suits came out, making it clear Elton Pope wouldn't be making any decisions that didn't involve them.

"They'll take you to a special spot where all memory of me can be erased, my enemies won't be able to have a foothold through you. Goodbye."

The two agents walked forward as Elton shuffled backwards.

"Y-You're going to make me forget the woman I love, she was connected to this, can you live with that?"

The Doctor stopped, not turning around.

"The love of your life, what was her full name?"

Silence reigned. The Doctor walked forward. She barely heard Elton slowly walk towards the vehicle.


	11. Epilogue

The Doctor walked through a nearby countryside. She had walked out of London, giving her boots a proper workout and being grateful for wearing socks. All her time traveling and yet she rarely wandered by foot. This was a moment when no history occurred, just a quiet afternoon in the countryside.

It might be the most perfect moment she'd known in a long time.

Sometimes life didn't need to be explored to be valued, a truth that she forgot occasionally. The moment faded quickly as a low hum called her. She flipped up the hood of her coat and wandered, focusing on the sound so that it was easier to follow. It also helped that the limited countryside made it less likely to be hit by a car while walking down the middle of a one-way road with her back to traffic.

Roads vanished, giving way to dirt and eventually a forest. Ancient walls and broken carriage wheels lined the path, a place where the world had moved on but history could be found. Her own past had been fully embraced, every victory with every tragedy seen through many eyes. The promise made to Susan long ago returned.

 _Who knows who's out there, but I'm going to meet them. For good or ill, I'll see it all._

A gentle roar filled her ears, and brought a spark to her eyes. Her promise was simple and its impact profound, but it demanded a proper vehicle. They were finally ready to meet.

Raising a hand, energy condensed and formed a small key in her palm, it twitched with glee knowing the one door it was built for was straight ahead. She pulled back her hood and showed her dear friend the new face that would be its companion. The Doctor wondered for a moment, perhaps the Tardis knew what she'd look like even before she did and that's why it never became confused.

Such a thought created a paradox the Doctor had _no_ interest in causing her head to blow up over.

With a smile for all the journeys to come, the Doctor stepped forward. The rituals complete with old memories remembered and honored. Now it was time to make some more.

And with a turn of a key for the thirteenth time, the story continued.


End file.
